12 things you need to know about opening weekend – Press Enterprise

We’ve just wrapped up the first weekend of the 2019 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival at the Empire Polo Club in Indio and while we saw hours upon hours of music, these were some of the most memorable highlights from the weekend.
The triple threat: Donald Glover
On Friday night, Donald Glover gave his debut headlining performance as Childish Gambino, years after he made his main stage debut during the day at Coachella. He treated his night-capping set like church, complete with a choir and asking the audience to put away their phones before he ended up in the audience, dancing on stage and performing some of his most notable works. And then after that? Well, he released his new “Guava Island” film with Rihanna on Amazon.
Best guest appearance: ‘NSync, sort ofDuring Ariana Grande’s Sunday night headlining set, she brought out one of the finest in U.S. boy band history, with the exception of Justin Timberlake, of course, to join her on the end of “Break Up with Your Girlfriend, I’m Bored” before we all partied like it was 1997 as Grande teamed up with J.C. Chasez, Lance Bass, Joey Fatone and Chris Kirkpatrick to sing “Tearin’ Up My Heart,” too. Grande brought out P. Diddy, Mase and Nicki Minaj, too.
Fans put their hands up as Sob X Rbe performs in the Sahara tent during the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival at the Empire Polo Club in Indio on Sunday, April 14, 2019. For this year’s festival, the Sahara Tent added augmented reality content between sets. (Photo by Watchara Phomicinda, The Press-Enterprise/SCN­G)
Newest stage trend: More tech
Two of the festivals most EDM-friendly stages, Do Lab and the Sahara Tent, also turned out to be two of the most tech-friendly this year. The Do Lab’s new stage this year, dubbed Warrior One, was built with 38 columns embedded with LEDs that function as low resolution video screens that custom content can be fed through. The Sahara tent meanwhile debuted an AR-equipped stage that allowed festival goers to see space-related imagery by pointing their smartphones at it between sets.
The Furies LA flying high above the crowd at the Do Lab stage during the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival at the Empire Polo Club in Indio on Friday, April 12, 2019. (Photo by Watchara Phomicinda, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)
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Festival’s most notable growth area: International music
Coachella has always been an international festival, but this year reached new heights. Not only did Korean pop megastars BlackPink make their way to the event but so did a number of other international acts such as Calypso Rose, J Balvin and Los Tucanes de Tijuana.
Blackpink performs in the Sahara tent during Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival at the Empire Polo Club in Indio on Friday, April 12, 2019. (Photo by Watchara Phomicinda, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)
Most psychedelic visuals: Tame Impala
On Saturday night, the Australian rock outfit Tame Impala led by Kevin Parker had plenty of moody lights and lasers, a lot of lasers. Plus, they had confetti.
Tame Impala performs during the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival at the Empire Polo Club in Indio on Saturday, April 13, 2019. (Photo by Jennifer Cappuccio Maher, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)
Most covered song: TLC’s “No Scrubs”
Usually, awkward double covers is more of Stagecoach‘s wheelhouse, but two of the biggest crowd-pleasing sets had the classic in the mix over the weekend. Weezer did the late ’90s jam in its Saturday night set (with Chilli, the C in TLC) and then Lizzo covered it on Sunday afternoon in the Mojave Tent.
Weezer performs during the 2019 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival at the Empire Polo Club in Indio on Saturday, April 13, 2019. (Photo by Kevin Sullivan, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Best returning artist: “Overview Effect” a.k.a. the Coachella Astronaut
Poetic Kinetics came back to the festival for the first time in a few years and they brought a remixed version of their most iconic Coachella piece with them. The astronaut even had an all access Coachella lanyard. We were also happy to see the hippos return with their own art installation. Read more about all of the art.
“Overview Effect,” a roving artwork shaped like an astronaut by Poetic Kinetics, towering over fans as hit makes as stop at the Gobi stage during the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival at the Empire Polo Club in Indio on Saturday, April 13, 2019. (Photo by Watchara Phomicinda, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)
Best use of the shuffle function: Zedd
His Sunday night main stage set included bits of Whitney Houston’s “I Wanna Dance with Somebody,” AC/DC’s “Thunderstruck” and Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody.” Oh, and he brought Katy Perry out for “365.”
Non-existent fashion trend: Janties
Going into Coachella, everyone was talking about denim underpants as an inexplicable. We only saw one pair the whole weekend. And they were paired with a pink and white cow print duo of chaps and a bolero jacket.
Most random Coachella appearance: Kenny G
Yes, you read that right. Kenny G, the saxophone virtuoso whose CDs fill the car visors of grandmas everywhere, made his way to Coachella. He performed a solo alongside Hawthorne singer Cuco during the band Chon’s set at the Mojave tent.
Coolest piece of merch: BlackPink Official Lightstick
You could bring a standard lightstick to see K-Pop band BlackPink in concert but nothing says fan-level dedication like buying their Official Lightstick. The lightstick, which retails for $45, is shaped like a hammer and lights up to the beat of nearby music.
Best place to cool off: Sonora Tent
The air-conditioned tent, in a more accessible location on the festival grounds this year, was host to some of the great rock acts such as Shame and South Korean band Hyukoh. An added bonus was the addition of a brand new bar.